Hikaru, the Warrior Princess
by Colorici74
Summary: This is happening in Medieval Ages, when the world is full of intrigues and fixed rules. Hikaru is a wild and boyish princess, Madoka is a cute and refined lady, Kyoya is an antisocial and cocky swordsman. Kyoya x Hikaru, maybe a slight Gingka x Madoka later.
1. Winning a battle, losing the war

_What can I say? After I watched an historical Korean drama and read some stories about Medieval Ages, I really wanted to write something, too. If any of you think that the story sounds too plagiarized, then just tell me in a review and I think I'll delete it. I won't mind because I know this is not the most original idea. The title of this chapter is inspired from a show that had an episode titled so._

**Chapter 1: **Winning a battle, losing the war

"Your Royal Highness! Your highness!" the maid yells at the top of her lung, running through the huge imperial palace. She stops for a little to pant while another woman ran to her.

"Did you find anything, Hong?" she asks. The maid shakes her head.

* * *

"You're good." Hikaru says panting. Kyoya smirks and attacks her with the sword. At seeing that, Hikaru parries with the speed of light. The two swords stay crossed, in X shape for a moment so the two 'swordsmen' can address each other cocky words.

The blades of the swords flash. "Good!" Hikaru protests, "That's all I am to you?"

Then both retreat their swords and continue fighting, now Hikaru attacking him. "If you still think that, because I'm a princess, I'm one of those worthless bimbos that need to be saved by men and are good only at looking pretty, like Madoka, you're wrong!" Hikaru yells while attacking.

She tries to reach for his neck, but, extremely fast, he lowers his head and spins in circle, then lands a few meters away from her.

The fight keeps going on with the speed of light, that fast that you can't even follow all of their the movements in detail.

They spin, jump, attack, defend.

Both for them start stepping around an imaginary circle. After some moments, they are in exactly opposite positions of how they had been. She throws him a cocky look, but he smirks and attacks.

Hikaru parries, but his attacks are violent, forcing her both parry and retreat with parrying. Catching a moment when she's not attentive, he lets his sword cut her left arm horizontally through her light blue outfit of swordsman.

The cloth colors in a reddish color due to the blood flowing from her veins, making her growl even more and attack violently because of anger. Kyoya tries to parry her attacks, but she jumps, then rolls above him, so she is now behind him.

Lastly, she puts her sword at his neck from behind and smirks. She won the fight. "You're not that brave now, right?"

Kyoya chuckles in satisfaction. "Really?" he whispers.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Hong yells, but the battle continues.

I don't know how, but Kyoya's sword is now threatening Hikaru's neck. Hikaru's expression is a surprised and confused one. _He_ won the battle.

"Your Highness, your father will be angry if he hears that you fought again!" Hong tries to win Hikaru's attention. Kyoya smirks but retreats his sword from her neck.

"Hah." Hikaru mumbles, then looks at Hong. "I'm coming." Then she puts her sword in the sheath and walks to her maid, wiping away the drops of sweat on her forehead. Kyoya chuckles in satisfaction and picks up his sheath from the ground, then also inserts his sword, which was a little painted with Hikaru's blood, in it.

Hong's eyes go wide at seeing that Hikaru's arm, nearly her shoulder, was bleeding. "Your Highness, what happened here?"

"If you chirp a word, I'll cut your neck!" Hikaru yells.

Hong looks to be scared. Actually, she saw Hikaru fighting so many times with men and winning that she is terrified. If she could defeat the bravest knights, she'll probably transform a simple maid into dust.

But, although Hikaru's so skilled, Hong never saw her winning against Kyoya. Never, but never.

Kyoya's the son of the premier, and a part of the nobility.

Hikaru's the only daughter of the king. She hates dresses, pendants, flowers and jade rings.

Madoka is a girl from the nobility, the third and youngest daughter of a minister. She's also the only kid in the family who's unmarried, having two elder sisters. Madoka comes to visit Hikaru at the palace very often because the relationship between their parents is very good. But, even so, Hikaru kinda dislikes Madoka because she is a nerd who likes girly thingies.

Hong is a maid of Hikaru and she's the only one who knows about Hikaru and Kyoya.

Kyoya taught Hikaru to ride, to handle the sword, to drink side by side with men, and to fight. The problem is that, because Hikaru's the only child in the royal family and also a girl, her parents want her to be feminine and want her to marry. Normally, she isn't allowed to act like a man. Hikaru doesn't want to marry because this would mean to leave the world of swords.

The relationship between the premier and the king isn't really the best one since Hikaru refused to marry premier's first son [Kyoya is the second]. But it wasn't just her fault, because the premier's son also refused due to the feeling he had for another girl.

Even so, Hikaru and Kyoya are very close. They drink together, they ride together, they fight together, they are kind of sidekicks. They treat each other tough, not like they are friends or something, and Kyoya is perfectly conscious that Hikaru is the daughter of the king.

Men tend to treat Hikaru easily because she's a girl, but Hikaru always shows them that this discrimination is wrong. Her body is marked with many scars due to the fights she had, but she always endures pain bravely.

"Hm... See you next time." Hikaru says cockily, looking at Kyoya over her shoulder.

* * *

_Eh? What do you say? Too plagiarized? Should I delete it?_


	2. Be good or be gone

_**Oh, guys... I was sooooo bored today that I wrote something at chapter 2, but, I don't know how, I realized that I finished it... too soon. So, because of boredom and because school returns tomorrow, I wanted to publish chapter 2 now. The title is inspired from a song by Fionn Regan.**_

**Chapter 2:** Be good or be gone

"_Agassi_, you look like a fairy!" the maid squeals excited.

Madoka smiles while admiring herself in the front of the mirror. "You think so?" she asks happily. The maid nods her head.

"_Ne_, _agassi_, you are ten thousand times more beautiful than the princess."

"Shut up, Mee!" Madoka scolds her maid, "No one in this kingdom is allowed to be more beautiful than the princess."

Mee pouts. "_Hajiman_, _agassi_, I don't think Her Highness minds that I said so..."

Madoka giggles at that. "I guess you're right." Then she sighs dreamily. "Let's go. I told the merchant that I'm coming this morning to take the silk for my new dress."

"_Ne_, _agassi_." Mee approves. "_Hajiman_, _agassi_, why don't you let the servants take it?"

"Well... I just want to inhale some fresh air." Madoka answers.

* * *

"How I hate this dress." Hikaru mumbles in a huff for herself, but Hong still hears her.

"Your Highness, you have to wear it when you go to salute the king... That's the protocol." Hong explains.

Hikaru sighs. "I know, I know..." Then she looks down at her silk dress. It is colored in two different colors: the lower part is light blue and the upper part is peach while the embroidery that is dotting the dress is made by silver.

'_Madoka_ probably dreams at this.' Hikaru thought.

"I guess we should go." she sighs afterwards.

* * *

"Your Majesty, the princess is here." the king could hear someone announcing from outside.

"Tell her to come in."

* * *

"_Agassi_, look at this!" Mee squeals excitedly while pointing to some jade thingies [ornaments, rings, etc...]. Madoka smiles to Mee and analyzes what she found. Madoka licks her lips while trying to choose something.

"Um... There are so many beautiful things here..."

Madoka sighs. "I think we'll come here again after we take the silk."

* * *

Madoka enters the yard of the merchant, Mee following her. "Is anyone here?" she yells after realizing that the place was empty.

Someone comes to the girls. "Oh, you should be here for the silk, right?" he asks. Madoka nods. "Gingka! Gingka, the customers are here! Oh, f*ck this boy!"

"Aaaah, I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Gingka finally comes, but he seems to be a half asleep, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, you are here..." he mumbles, yawning.

Madoka raises an eyebrow. "Oh, you... Follow me." Gingka says, looking stupidly.

So, the girls follow him to the place where they keep the silk. "Um... yeah, choose something." Gingka simply says, still rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"_Agassi_, you should scold this bastard! He didn't even salute you, yet, he's just a simple-." Mee whispers in Madoka's ear, but it is very quiet so Gingka can't hear her.

"Shut up, Mee." Madoka scolds her, before she can finish her sentence.

"_Hajiman_, _agassi_, I heard that he's the son of the employer, but he does such a humiliating work..."

"I told you to shut up, Mee!" Then to Gingka, with a fake smile, picking a light pink roll of silk: "This one and..." She picks another one, yellow this time. "This."

"Oh, good... Okay, then..."

* * *

"_Agassi_, how could you let that bastard insult you like this?" Mee protests.

"_Gwaenchana-yo_..." Madoka tells her. Afterwards, she giggles. "Plus, he's cute." She shrugs, tittering. "_Eotteokaeyo_?"

"_Agassi_, don't tell me you like him!"

Madoka laughs. "What? I actually thought _you_ like him." she teases Mee. "More than this, you would make the perfect couple."

"_Agassi_, that's not something you should joke about!"

"Okay, okay, I understood..." Madoka says on an amused voice.

* * *

Hong tries to keep her arms wrapped around Hikaru's waist so she'll not fall. Riding is not an easy job, at least, for a maid, even if Hikaru rides. Hong analyzes the forest around her - it is afternoon, the sun is shinning, and outside is kinda hot, but the trees keep that place cool and shady. The air is fresh, the breeze is gentle, playing with her hair.

"But, Your Highness, your back doesn't ache when you ride that much?" she asks shyly.

"Sometimes." Hikaru answers. "But it's better than wearing that dress. Those colors make me want rip off my eyes." Then, to Kyoya: "By the way... Where you said those guys come?"

He shrugs. "Don't ask me."

But, then, from nowhere about ten men appear and block their way. Both stop their horses at seeing those people. "You want something from us?" Hikaru asks.

"They are gangsters. They want our money." Kyoya explains, then looks at Hong, who is scared at hell. "Take care of your maid. Seems like she has minimal survival chances. That's it, dude. Learn to protect yourself if you wanna survive."

The gang of men reveals their swords, so Kyoya and Hikaru had to take care of them and get off the horses. They also took their swords and... let the fun begin!

Hong is scared at hell. She remains where she is and watches the entire fight. Hikaru just kills a guy by cutting his abdomen horizontally, but seems like the gangsters are good swordsmen. Plus, they have a numeric advantage.

"Oh, come on!" Hikaru sighs while parrying. "Die! I don't have time for you!" Then she attacks, but the guy parries. "You still don't want to die?"

"Your Highness, behind!" Kyoya warns her, but she can't turn to see the guy that wants to stab her, so Kyoya puffs but kills him instead of her. After Hikaru finally kills the guy she was busy with, Kyoya asks her: "You okay, Your Highness?"

She nods. "Call me Hikaru." Afterwards, she goes to take care of another guy.

"Stop right now or I'll kill her!"

The battle freezes to see that one of the gangsters took Hong and put his sword at her neck, threatening that he'll kill her. Hong was that scared and was shivering that bad that she couldn't even scream. "Hong!" Hikaru calls at her.

"Your Highness, forget about her! She's just a simple maid!" Kyoya yells at Hikaru.

* * *

"You, bastard!" Kyoya yells. "How dare you to tie and take Her Highness, the princess as a prisoner? It's just your fault, Hong!"

The leader of the gang laughs. "Her Highness?"

"It's okay, Kyoya, let it drop." Hikaru whispers to him. "We'll find a way to escape."

"Hm... So you say you're the princess..." Then the guy gets a bottle of wine from another guy and drinks. "I heard that the princess is a good archer." He laughs. "Guys! Tie that bitch by that tree." He points at Hong, then at a tree that was about 15 meters away. Some men take Hong and tie her by the tree. Then they hang a bottle of water next to Hong's head. "Now..."

Other men come with a barrel. "You have to drink this barrel of white wine, then try to dart the bottle of water next to your maid."

"Bastard! How dare to you tell Her Highness such an idiocy?" Kyoya yells.

"It's okay, Kyoya, I'll do it." Hikaru assures.

"And, be careful, because if you do something uninspired, then we will get a little upset." the leader of the gangsters threatens Hikaru.

Some men untie Hikaru, who sneers to them and take the barrel of wine. "Hah. Let's just finish this." She starts to drink it, then stops a little because it is strong. She throws some curse words in air, then continues.

The wine dribbles from the edges of her mouth, landing on her clothes, wetting them. She stops drinking a little, then coughs, then continues, until she drinks it up. Afterwards, she coughs, then throws the empty barrel away.

She takes the bow from those men, then an arrow. She looks at Hong, but then the entire world blurs. She rubs her eyes – the image is clearer, but still in blur. She can't. She'll definitely kill Hong. Normally, she shouldn't care about a simple maid, but Hong is sort of friend for her. She doesn't have friends inside the palace and the only one she can talk openly to is Hong.

The alcohol does its job well. The world is shaking now and Hikaru sees two Hongs. She wants to release the arrow, but changes her mind. "I-I can't."

Memories come into her mind:

_"Your Highness, how can you reach the target with your eyes closed?" Hong asks shyly. Hikaru smiles._

_"I don't even know. I just close my eyes and try to reach the target. I listen to the wind, then release the bow. It's like I see the world with my eyes closed." Hikaru explains. "Oh, by the way, Hong, wanna try?"_

_"But, Your Highness, the bow and arrow is not made for men?"_

_Hikaru shakes her head. "Nah. I don't make the difference." Then she gives the bow to the maid, who shyly takes it. "Look. I'll teach you how to handle it."_

_"But, Your Highness, who taught you to handle the bow? The son of the premier?"_

_"Oh... No. Not him. I learnt it from my uncle. He's nice to me. I always talk to him if I can leave the palace."_

_"That's amazing Your Highness!"_

_Hikaru smiles, then tells Hong: The first rule about archery is that you have to believe that the bow is a part of you. Remember, Hong, the bow is a part of you."_

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Hong gulps.

Hikaru releases the bow, then sighs. Afterwards, she turns to the men and opens her eyes, without looking if she hit the target or not. She drops the bow, pain in her eyes, then throws with something like a red and yellow pendant in them. "The prove that I am the princess."

At seeing that pendant, the gagsters immediately kneel on the ground and apologize. A tear escapes from Hikaru's left eye. "I'm sorry, Hong." she mumbles.

"Your Highness..." a shy voice mutters. Hikaru widens her eyes and turns. She hit the target and Hong is safe at all. Hikaru smiles in relief.

"Hong!"

Hikaru runs to her and unties her. "You alright?" she asks. Hong nods and smiles back after she found herself untied. Afterwards, Hikaru unties Kyoya, too.

"We're sorry, Your Highness!" the leader apologizes. "We didn't know is you! We're sorry!"

Hikaru looks at them. Anger is filling her eyes; she laughs maniacally. "You're sorry?" Then she takes her sword and walks to them slowly, a dark aura around her. "I guess you should be."

Then she kills their leader with one swift and firm movement, incising his abdomen horizontally from right to left. A trail of blood paints her outfit while just some drops of blood jump and land on her dirty right cheek. That guy's mouths fills with blood, then he just fall on his left part on the ground.

Hong lets out a small high-pitched sound of fear at seeing the blood and the guy dead while Kyoya seems to be indifferent, due to the many blood scenes he saw. "Anyone else is sorry?" Hikaru asks maniacally.

Silence.

"Let's go." Hikaru says, trying to keep her balance because she is still affected by the alcohol. She puts her sword back in her sheath and walks back to the horses, Kyoya and Hong following her without uttering a sound.

_Now, the explanation time:_

Mee is a Korean girl and Madoka's maid. Because Mee is Korean, she tends to use Korean words sometimes and has a specific Korean accent. She taught Madoka a little Korean because Madoka enjoys learning new things and languages.

Gingka is the only son of a well-known and rich merchant; although, he's not noble, neither his father nor his family. They are a part of the middle class. Another thing: Gingka is that lazy that his father had to force him to be a simple worker.

* * *

_agassi_ = a way to call an unmarried woman in Korea. Today is used for young, unmarried women but in Medieval Ages it was used for a [usually noble but it also could be used for a girl in the middle class] young, unmarried girl

_hajiman_ = but (in Korean)

_ne_ = yes (in Korean)

_gwaenchana-yo_ = it's okay (in Korean)

_eotteokaeyo_? = what can I do? (in Korean)

_**Oh, and since... um... you want to read my story, then I'm forced not to delete it, right? xD**_


	3. Just gummy bears for now

**Chapter 3: **Just gummy bears for now

"What was with you?" Hikaru asks viciously while drinking some white wine from the small cup.

"I don't understand what you wanna mean, Your Highness." Kyoya said, his face expressionless, on an empty voice, his head bowed to the floor.

"_Your_ _Highness_? Since when you call me _Your Highness_?"

"I still don't understand, Your Highness. Since you are the princess and I am your humble servant. If you are the _Mother of the kingdom_, shouldn't call you 'Your Highness'? If I insulted you with anything, then please kill me, Your Highness."

Hikaru laughs. "Foolish! The Mother of the country is none other than the queen." Hikaru corrects, then brutally takes Kyoya's sword that he was wearing in his sheath hung by his hip and points it at his neck. "Now tell me the true reason."

"Your Highness, how could I dare to keep something away from you or to lie to you?" Kyoya continues emptily, like he doesn't understand.

"Bastard! You think I'm stupid or what?" Hikaru yells, this time anger overwhelming her. "You got angry when those men tied me and treated me disrespectful. You never get angry for stupid things like this! You know you can't lie."

"Your Highness, isn't it normal?" Kyoya says still emptily, then lifts up his gaze to her, carefully, not to get cut by her sword. "Since His Majesty can kill me at any time if I don't take care of Your Royal Highness?"

Hikaru startles in surprise, but quickly gets back her tough expression. "W-What do you mean?"

"Oh, let me explain, Your Highness. Every time I go somewhere with Your Highness or every time I am with Your Highness, I am in danger. That's what I wanna say, Your Highness. That I can die every time I get close to Your Highness."

"Bastard! Is this supposed to mean that you're leaving me?" Hikaru asks, growling. Kyoya chuckles.

"How could you think at such a blasphemy, Your Highness? His Majesty would be very mad if he'd hear that I ran away cowardly while Your Highness needed protection. Isn't my job to be sure that Your Highness is always safe? Of course, how could His Majesty let Your Highness alone? More than this, Your Highness, His Majesty is probably worried. Letting his only precious daughter go on such dangerous adventures?"

Hikaru sighs and drops the sword. "Let it drop. Let's go back to the palace."

"But, Your Highness, you're not going to find what you were looking for?" Kyoya asks with an obvious shade of satisfaction at seeing Hikaru giving up.

"No."

She turns around and walks out of the inn without any word.

* * *

"Put that there, and the others there! Quickly, we don't have much time!"

The workers quickly start obeying leader's orders. Gingka was there, too. He also starts helping the workers transporting the fish to the boat.

In that time, Hikaru and Kyoya are riding back to the palace and, randomly, Kyoya bumps into some fish with his horse, causing it to spread on the ground. Even so, he doesn't stop riding. At seeing that, the leader of the merchants gets really mad.

"How dare he...? It is expansive fish!"

Gingka immediately starts running with the speed of light to catch the horses. Surprisingly, he is really fast, but he cannot reach the horses that fast. Just after a time, Hong, who was behind Hikaru, trying to do not fall from the horse, looks behind and sees Gingka running to them.

"Your Highness, I think someone is..." Hong dares to mutter.

"Eh?" Hikaru looks back, confused and starts stopping her horse. At seeing that, Kyoya does the same and Gingka finally reaches them. He stops ion front of the horses, blocking their path.

"You want something from us?" Kyoya asks with superiority.

"Yes, I want you to apologize for the fish you wasted!" Gingka says determinedly.

"You want what?" Hikaru asks, too, in her deep confusion.

"The fish is very expansive here, you know! And it also gets adulterated very fast!"

Kyoya sneers. "You are cheeky. Fine. How much is it?" But then Kyoya gets bored before Gingka can say the prince and throws him some coins on the ground.

"Let's go, Your Highness. We're late." Kyoya says to Hikaru.

* * *

_6 years later..._

The gurgling cascade's sound was pleasant but not silent, the water brutally falling down on the Earth, combining with the already existent water, creating such a nice thing on this world.

Hikaru cupped some water in her hands and washed her face several times.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, you're not allowing to bathe in the cascade, Your Highness! Your father will be angry again! The cascade is not for having baths, Your Highness!"

Hikaru says, completely ignoring her maid: "Who says that? Didn't you see nymphs and virgins coming to bathe here everyday? Plus, I like the place. The cascade is so rushed, thought so calm..."

"Yes, Your Highness, but that doesn't applies in the case of princesses and noble girls! Your Highness, you should get out of the water! You will probably catch a flu or something!" Hong insists while watching her master bathing in the cascade.

"Flu? We are in July, Hong. No flues. You should take off your clothes and come, too. The water is just perfect!"

Hong sighs. "Your Highness, please, get out of the water... They'll probably kill me at the palace..." she sighs even more, but Hikaru just laughs gleefully and sprinkles Hong with water. Hong pouts. "Your Highness, that's not fun at all! Ah... How did I find such a master like Your Highness?"

"Well, then you can go and serve Madoka. I won't mind. I can take Kyoya as a servant at any time. Plus, he's my 'body guard'. Why can't he help me dress up at the morning like I can't do it on my own and announce who comes to visit me? That's not a hard job."

Hong buries her face in her hands and shakes her head in disbelief. "Ah, then what do you suggest? Going to buy jade rings?" Hikaru mocks Hong. "Or maybe riding?"

"NO, NO, YOUR HIGHNESS, NO, I DON'T WANNA RIDE AGAIN!"

"Um... Then should I call premier's son to do an archery contest? I heard that he's not at job now."

"Ah, c'mon, Your Highness, he doesn't have a 'job'. He's still a wanderer like he always had been." Hong critiques Kyoya, crossing her arms. Hikaru smirks.

"Who cares? He's still good at riding..." Hikaru whispers on a teasingly voice, making Hong to groan silently.

"Ah, then why don't you go and just... become his mistress or something? Your Highness can do this since he's noble. Plus, you seem to be the perfect match." Hong says with much hate in her voice. "You are both some wanderers who like just getting dirty with dust, alcohol and blood and afterwards, wash yourselves in cascades."

Hikaru laughs really hard at hearing that. "Actually, I was thinking about that..." she says ironically, but on an amused voice, then winks to her maid. "But still, I didn't forget about you and the guy at the library..."

Hong blushed and startles. "Y-Your Highness knows about t-that?"

"Her Highness knows everything, Hong..." Hikaru replies wisely. "That's why they call her 'Her Highness'..."

"Oh, Your Highness..." Hong whispers embarrassedly, "Don't tell Miss Ying... She'll kill me if she hears about it..."

Hikaru smirks, closing her eyes. "Just if you bathe with me..."

"Your Highness, are you blackmailing me?" Hong asks, profoundly offended by Hikaru's offer. Hikaru just nods her head in satisfaction.

Hong groans. "I hate you so much sometimes, Your Highness..." she mutters while unknotting the knot at her dress.

"Not my fault that you are Hong and I am Her Highness..." Hikaru teases Hong.

* * *

_~Meanwhile_

"Korea?" Gingka asks on a confused voice, raising an eyebrow.

"_Ne_."

* * *

_**I know... Short, but I was so lazy these days... Plus, I hate French tests -.-**_

_**Yeah, Korea... Korea xD There's something with Korea, hehe Korea, Korea, Korea xD xD xD Korea and gummy bears xD xD [Sorry, I'm a little drunk O_o because the title is random. And that's why I also couldn't verify the mistakes...] Yeah, the story actually happens 6 years later because.. um... I dunno. Anyway, they all are around 21-22-23.**_

_**Sayonara!**_


	4. Teez

**Chapter 4: **Teez

"Uh, where the f**k is she?" Kyoya groaned impatiently as looking at the left and the right, like searching for something. His horse was some yards away from him, quietly wresting from the light green grass with its teeth and eating. "F**k, she's so nuts! She should have been back!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't tell me..." Hikaru agreed with boredom, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed. "She has got a problem with me washing in waterfalls... Hm, I was wondering, where does she wash herself?"

"Your Highness, we're late." Kenta interrupted seriously, "We don't have time to wait for her. The merchants will be leaving the town in a short time. We have to catch Gingka Hagane and his associates and be back at the palace as soon as possible. We should go."

"Let's wait a bit more. Maybe she'll be back." the so-called princess replied and also started to look around for her servant. "C'mon, Hong... The forest is not a place for maids..." she willed.

"Your Highness, we don't have time. The merchants—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it; you don't have to tell me twice!" Hikaru yelled at him, making her way towards her horse, "Let's leave this f*****g place. I'll employ Kyoya as my personal servant after we catch all those pieces of s**t and return to the palace."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." the swordsman muttered with boredom as straddling on his own horse. After they all were ready, they left, letting Hikaru's maid behind, in the depths of the forest.

"So, Kenta," Hikaru resumed the discussion, "Where is that town you're talking about?"

"It is at the point where those two rivers I told you about tear asunder." the youngest boy answered, "Not far from here; we just have to cross this forest and we'll be there in the shortest time."

"Oh, f**k, and you tell me we've let Hong behind just for _one_ forest? How is she supposed to come back? She doesn't know the way to the palace, neither how to survive in the forest... She's just a maid! I thought it was a big distance what you were talking about!"

"Yeah, Your Highness, but Gingka Hagane and the gang are leaving today, with the illegal ginseng they have stolen. We have to recover the ginseng and arrest them."

She groaned in exasperation. "Whatever! We'll search for Hong afterwards!"

* * *

**~Later~**

"Okay, Your Highness, that's the town I was talking about." Kenta announced as everyone curbed their horses. "Gingka Hagane and the gang are going to walk along the right river, then are going to cross it at some point and go abroad to Korea with the stolen illegal ginseng amounting at least 10,000 nyang. Some of his accomplices are Masamune Kadoya and the prince Yu."

"Prince Yu?" Hikaru asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah, the son of the king of Korea, Your Highness." the young male explained. In that time, Kyoya had been attentively listening to the conversation, without saying a word. Hikaru, on the other part, meditated just a little bit about Kenta's statement. "Is he the son of the queen?" she viciously questioned, like suspecting something.

"No, Your Highness. He's the son of the first concubine of the king, which the queen hates the most. That's because the queen cannot have heirs, so the king had to use a concubine to assure one."

Hikaru's lips let a light chuckle escape. "Hm... Interesting. So, this prince is king's descendant? Or does the king have any other concubines besides her to put in danger Yu's position?"

"Yeah, he's king's descendant, but hasn't been declared as the crown prince yet. No, Your Highness, the king doesn't have any other concubines."

"Good." Hikaru announced as her legs found the touch of the ground, "This guy seems interesting... Find more information about him. The social status of his mother, the date of birth, how old he is, who he is going to marry to, everything. He must be promised to someone since he's the prince. Find out if the girl is noble or not."

"Why, Your Highness? Your Highness isn't promised to anyone even if you are the princess and have reached the age at which you can marry." Kyoya commented, slyly insinuating something Hikaru understood.

"Just for you to know, my dear, women are inferior to men after marriage. But not in the case of princesses. If dad wants me to marry anyone, I can simply run away. And you'll have to follow me anywhere I'll go, 'cause you have sworn you'll be loyal to me 'til the day you die. Remember?"

Kyoya sighed heavily. Yeah, right... He's the one responsible with her safety, and if anything happens to her, he'll probably lose his head for not protecting her. Literally. Just like Hikaru's maid, Hong, he has sworn loyalty to the princess. If the princess would be exiled one day, he and Hong have to be exiled with her, as well, and continue serving her until death. If she dies, well, Hong will be killed and her body will be placed next to Hikaru's at the funeral. However, nothing will happen to Kyoya if Hikaru dies. Yeah, he's lucky.

Kenta slyly cleared his throat, trying to interrupt the dispute between those two. "My dears, we have to find the inn Gingka Hagane and his merchants are staying at. We'll follow the guild's people when the night sets, when it's most probably them to leave."

"Oh, whatever..." Hikaru bitterly muttered as beginning to walk. The two boys loyally followed her, sitting by each other's side, with Hikaru leading the group. That's a formal way of walking, which shows who is superior to who. The superior person walks the first, in any circumstances. Kyoya is like Hikaru's body guard, and Kenta... well, Kenta's situation is complicated. He knows martial arts, but in the same time he has knowledge in history, geography, and medicine. He's a part of the middle class, born in a family of intellectuals who occupied different functions at the palace. Kenta doesn't really have a special talent, but he's more like a bookman combined with a soldier. He hasn't sworn loyalty to Hikaru, but they are good friends and go together in adventures or missions, even if he's a lot younger than her. He's a nice person, but can be very serious when it comes to his 'job'.

They let the horses at a peasant, paying for him to take care of them until they're back. Afterwards, they started to wander through the busy town.

"So, what information do we have?" Hikaru started, not looking at the two boys. Kenta respectfully made some steps next to her, and showed her a map as they were walking.

"That's the inn." he said, pointing at a point on the map. "Next to the fish sh—"

"You mean next to us." Kyoya interrupted, and all three looked to see that they were next to a stall with fish. And there was an inn opposing the stall. "Hah." the same swordsman mumbled in disgust, "What a hiding place they found... It took us like, what?, 15 minutes to find it? Including the time we've spent at that peasant."

"Oh, you should say thank you..." Hikaru sighed in disbelief as they entered the yard of the inn, which was like a terrace, where people were eating especially cheap food like rice or soup.

A woman walked over them. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"We would like a room, please." Kenta said, and the woman, who seemed like was the innkeeper, bowed her head in respect and immediately leaded them to a room. She probably saw that the clothes of those three were best quality, so she deduced that they're noble people, consequently, she has to be respectful to them because she's just the wife of a simple peasant.

The room was very simple. It had papered sliding doors, and some small wardrobes. The ceiling was really low, and you couldn't stand on your feet without at least touching it.

* * *

**~At night~**

"They are gone. That's good. Okay, so you know the plan, right?" Hikaru tried to assure herself that everything is ready for the operation. Kenta nodded his head.

"Yeah." he answered, "Take care of yourself, Your Highness."

"Yeah, that's what I'll do. What about you, Kyoya?"

"Everything is ready. You just have to order and I'll attack at your signal."

"Fine."

Then they broke asunder, in three different places, each one with a horse. Hikaru was going to attack the merchants through the back, while Kyoya will do it on the opposite part. Since merchants aren't really skilled when it comes to martial arts and don't use to employ body guards, Hikaru and Kyoya will be like a diversion until Kenta comes with more soldiers. The plan is simple – Hikaru and Kyoya have to survive until Kenta comes to arrest the merchants. Also, these two have to be sure Gingka Hagane doesn't escape.

Hikaru vigilantly rode her horse through that darkness combined with shapeless dim moonlight. She kept riding with moderate speed until she saw the group of merchants like 100 meters away. There were like 50 people transporting diverse goods which didn't seem illegal or stolen at all, but she knew the ginseng was hidden a little deeper.

She studied them. They were walking in a slow pace, some of them on horses, others by feet. Gingka Hagane was in the front of the group, riding a horse. She couldn't see his figure because she was behind them, but she neither knew who he was. She never met him before.

Whatever, it was time. She carefully took her bow and an arrow which she lighted up. The light of the fire wasn't really dazzling, which means that Kyoya wasn't going to notice it. She closed her right eye, trying to set the target with her left dominant eye. So she shot it towards one of the horses, darting it in the leg, making it fall, together with the rider. And that was the signal. She felt a small pain in the place of the arm where the bowstring slapped her. That zone of her body was sensitive already, because of how much she uses the bow.

Her amethyst eyes studied the situation attentively. The merchants began to panic at seeing the poor horse taking fire, and, soon, Kyoya and other 10 men, who were skilled swordsmen they employed, got out from the 'hideout'.

She was alone, however. She didn't need anyone with her since Kyoya had 10 men. The soldiers they got from the police were going to come soon anyway.

"And the fun begins..." she whispered, leaving her hideout.

The battle had started. She let her horse somewhere in a quiet place and joined the others. The only merchants that seemed to know martial arts well were three young men who were fighting with Kyoya's group of men.

One had reddish hair, but she couldn't see his figure well due to the darkness. The second was the one who came to fight her. It was a huge, a fat guy, and that's all she could see. However, he was a very good swordsman, and seems like he liked to attack. Hikaru had to continuously parry his sword with hers, without having the chance to attack. Seems like he didn't notice that she was a girl, because he continued to brutally attack.

One time she tried to take her neck, but she managed to avoid his sword.

_F**k, this idiot!_, Hikaru thought annoyed.

As she tried to penetrate his arm with her sword, she yelled to him: "Give up, you bastard!", using the toughest tone her voice ever experienced, so he wouldn't notice she's a woman.

"Never!" he yelled, then...

His sword went through the right part of her chest, crossing it through an oblique cut, lifting up some blood up to her mouth. Fortunately, Kyoya saw that she had been injured; otherwise, that guy would have probably killed her with another cut.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

He killed a guy standing in his road, and quickly made his way through that crowd of people battling. With the speed of light, he managed to hurt that guy battling Hikaru, in his back. "Your Highness, are you alright?" Kyoya asked after that guy ran away because of the pain.

She nodded her head, trying not to collapse, then she hooked her arm around Kyoya's, his weight almost supporting hers. "That bastard..." she muttered between her ragged breaths, grimacing from the pain in her chest.

"Kenta is coming, Your Highness. We should hide somewhere and let him arrest them. Your Highness's doesn't look alright. Let's go."

"Yeah, right."

He placed his sword back in his sheath, and, with limp, small steps, those two walked away from the bloody conflict and reached the place where Hikaru let her horse. Because she was injured, Kyoya had to ride the horse, and she just stayed behind him on the horse, with the arms wrapped around his slim waist.

* * *

_**A/N: Oh, yeah, I'm back! I've decided to update since school starts on 17th September, a week later than originally!**_

_**Thanks to anyone who is still reading this XD**_


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